Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Milan reacts during the Italian championship Serie A football match between AS Roma and AC Milan on Feb. 28, 2021 at Stadio Olimpico. IPA

Ibrahimovic responds to LeBron James, doubles down on 'stick to sports' message

After getting into a public war of words with LeBron James, AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic doubled down on his take that athletes should "stick to sports" rather than discussing politics.

"Athletes unite the world, politics divide it," Ibrahimovic said. "Our role is to unite the world by doing what we do best. Athletes should be athletes and politicians should do politics."

Last week, Ibrahimovic was being interviewed when he criticized LeBron for his outspokenness regarding political and social issues, saying that athletes should "stay out of it" and "do what you're good at." LeBron responded by saying that there is "no way" he would "just stick to sports" and dismissing the idea that he should ignore politics and just focus on basketball.

"I speak from a very educated mind, so I'm kind of the wrong guy to actually go at because I do my homework," LeBron said, while specifically citing voter suppression, racism, and social justice as areas that he is passionate about.

With his latest comment, Ibrahimovic did not directly call out LeBron this time, but it's pretty clear that he is sticking with his position that athletes should keep their mouths shut when it comes to more serious matters.

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